The New York Times runs a story, “Mormon Candidate Braces for Religion as Issue.”

A Washington Post headline says, “Mormon Base a Mixed Blessing for Romney.”

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s faith is a key topic in speculation on whether he can win the presidency or even the Republican nod. Mormons are big Romney donors and poised to mobilize for him. But polls show substantial numbers of Americans unwilling to consider voting for a Mormon for president.

Why? Why does Mormonism strike people as so different?

A new PBS special is an eye-opener. As author Richard Ostling, one of those interviewed, puts it, “People are nervous that this is kind of an authoritarian church. Is Mitt Romney somehow subject to some church leader in Salt Lake City? Are Mormons Christians? Where did these Mormon scriptures come from? Who was Joseph Smith? Where did polygamy come from? All of these things are swirling around the Romney candidacy.”

The Mormons, an American Experience/Frontline joint effort, airs in two two-hour installments on Channel 2 at 9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday and on Channel 36 at 9 p.m. May 9 and 16.

There’s film of Romney but he’s not interviewed and not a central figure. Yet his candidacy heightens the program’s value.

Persecution and exodus marked the Mormons’ 19th-century experience, forcing them to seek refuge in Utah; Jews can identify with that.

Mormons are Christians, but with twists, such as a belief that in 1827 an angel led founder Smith to unearth in New York State a set of golden plates etched in hieroglyphics. Thus emerged the Book of Mormon, which tells of Israelites sailing circa 600 B.C. to what is now America, and later of a resurrected Jesus Christ, within days of his crucifixion, coming to preach to their descendants.

Well, that certainly would sound strange to most people. So would, say, the practice of conducting proxy baptism ceremonies that offer salvation for people in the afterlife who had not heard the Mormon Gospel.

But there are beliefs and rites in every religion — Communion in the Catholic Church, say — that sound odd to outsiders. You probably will never get a first-hand glimpse at many Mormon ceremonies, which members carry out in white garments in temples closed to non-Mormons.

Incidentally, I didn’t know Smith was killed by a mob in 1844. Or that after Utah became a state and sent Mormon Reed Smoot to enter the Senate in 1903, the chamber held a years-long set of hearings before seating him. Today, a Mormon, Harry Reid, is majority leader.

Folks identify Mormons with polygamy. Leader Brigham Young fathered 57 kids. The church renounced polygamy long ago, but you’ll meet some fundamentalists who cling to it.

Mormons are known for missionary work. A young Romney did it for two years. It’s not easy. In one scene here, a missionary cheerfully greets a man, is rebuffed, persists anyway, and is told, “Don’t shadow me, don’t walk next to me. I said I’m busy.”

The church long kept blacks from full membership. And gay marriage is taboo. Artist Trevor Southey says, “Being gay in that culture is beyond hell because the family is the center of Mormonism … I wanted to be cured so badly. I fasted and I prayed…”

In many ways, Mormons have become part of mainstream America. Romney’s bid may be a litmus test. If he gains traction, questions about his faith may wither — or grow. Watch The Mormons and you’ll be prepared.

M. Charles Bakst is The Journal’s political columnist.

mbakst@projo.com